Collector's Encylopedia Of Electric Christmas Lighting: Identification & Values (Collector's Encyclopedia)

Rating:
Summary: Nice Photos, Little else
Review: I agree with George's review. A multitude of photos in this book, but no history of the items is shared with the Reader; just photos and arbitrary values in a very general (and I mean general) organization. I was hoping for more history of Christmas Lighting and decorations in this country. How America's tastes changed through the decades, how technology changed manufacturing lights and decorations over the years. Information that's missing from current collector book marketplace. Well, we still didn't get it.

In my opinion it appears that these two "collector" authors collected to amass huge collections just so they could photograph them for this book. This can be proven because one of the authors is currently dumping their "photographed for this book" collection via online auctions. It's unfortunate they did not collect because they loved vintage Christmas items like so many of us, and wanted to share their knowledge and collections with other collectors.

There are other books out there I'd recommend before this one. Namely George Johnson's books.

Rating:
Summary: simply the best i've ever seen
Review: i own every book available on christmas, especially those to do with christmas lighting. this book has it all. not a lot of boring details but thousands of great color photos. one picture is worth a thousand words! i own mr johnson's and mr brenner's books. boring details and just the junk of the christmas lighting. this book treats the lighting with top billing and just not a filler as in the other books. highly recommend. happen to know that these two authors only sell their junk items on ebay. most collectors who know anything are also dealers!!!

Rating:
Summary: Many pictures-little information
Review: I was somewhat disappointed after receiving this book. Although there are a huge amount of pictures of various Christmas lighting sets, the organization was poor and there was precious little information about the history of electric Christmas lighting. According to the bios of the authors, they reportedly amassed a great deal of knowledge in their field of collecting, but precious little of that knowledge has been shared with the reader.

Rating:
Summary: IT FINALLY ARRIVED AND BOY AND I HAPPY!
Review: It was really worth the wait. this book on Christmas lighting is more than I ever dreamed of. Wow, all those color photos. the information is great, gives the maker, country of origin, date made, and the most realistic values of any of the collector type books I've seen. Just can't get over all those items. The part in the back that gives the information for the companies is something I never expected to see. With this information I can date, value, and know more about my items than I ever thought possible. My hats off to the authors, A Christmas Book worth buying!

Rating:
Summary: A must have book for the serious collector
Review: This book represents a major effort in the field of Christmas lighting collecting and research. Great pictures, perhaps a bit haphazard in the way they are laid out (no chronological order) but this will be many people's only way to see some very rare and unique items. A wonderful coffee table book!